The Black Swan
by Claire J. Darling
Summary: The so called "Gothic" Isabella Swan looses her wits when she meets the very human, very player-like Edward Mason. She has no idea what to expect Edward's ex-girlfriend with Topaz eyes wants to get even with Bella for "Stealing" her boyfriend.


Prologue:

I looked into his eyes and saw only pain. How could I have been so stupid? This was everything I had ever wanted, everything I had dreamed of. He was the image of sheer perfection in my eyes. But this was entirely my fault, and now I was paying for it.

"I'm so sorry, please, you have to believe me." I looked into his eye, mine pleading.

"I want to, I really want to, But I don't think I can." His tore away from mine as he turned around. I felt tears spill over the ridges of my eyes as I watched him walk away. I sank against the wall and watched him until he became too small and too blurry for me to see anymore. I closed my eyes and pulled my knees tightly to my chest as I fell; fell into the black desperation and self-pity that were now closing over me.

BPOV

Chapter One:

"Bella!" I heard my mother scream up the stairs, "I told you to be down here 15 minutes ago! C'mon hurry up, do you want to be late?" I sighed and finished the thick black line of liner underneath my eye. I swiped by mascara over my short, dull lashes, making them darker and longer. Setting my make up back into my bag; I looked at the reflection that stared back at me. I shook my head, still disappointed in the face that seemed to be mine. I sat down on my bed and slipped my socked feet into my Converse tennis shoes. I walked over to my nightstand, picking up my iPod and jamming it into the pocket of my black, oversized hoodie, the screen print of my favorite band beginning to wear off. I grabbed my old Quiksilver backpack and walked out the door, leaving behind my beloved bedroom. Why did this have to be today? I felt a sigh once again leave my lips and jogged down the stair. I looked down, suddenly realizing my shoe was still untied, but it was too late to worry about that, I had already stepped on it with my other foot, sending my body forward, tumbling down the last of the stairs and hitting the floor with a thud. A loud aggravated moan left my mouth. I wanted to scream, cry, or through some other kind of tantrum that would get me out of this. "That can't be all you're bringing." My mother said, looking down at me, frowning.

"What else was I supposed to bring?" I grunted and sat up, bending over my knee to tie the stupid shoes that had caused my face plant. "I don't have any other bags." I said to my shoe.

"Well why didn't you say so?" My mother said, clearly aggravated with me. She exited the hall way, entering her bedroom and then appeared in front of me again, holding a huge orange duffle bag with bright pink polka dots. "Use this," She said, plopping it down on the floor next to me.

"Are you kidding me? There's no way I'm using that." I said, incredulous.

"Yes you are, now go." She all but yelled at me.

I groaned loudly as I pulled myself from the floor, I threw my backpack at the door and then snatched the dreadful duffle bag from the floor. I ran up the steps, tripping on the last one and nearly face planting again; fortunately I caught myself on the banister. I reopened my door and threw more articles of clothing inside, along with more of my eyeliner. I grabbed a few CD's that I liked and threw them inside too. I walked back the door, closing it behind me, and then threw the polka dotted bag down the stairs. "Bella, quit with the attitude and get your butt moving, now!" She screamed at me again. She wasn't always this bad, really, right now she was just flustered. I walked slowly down the stairs this time, careful not to trip again.

"Okay, I'm ready." I said to her in a voice much nicer than I wanted.

She looked up at me and smiled, "You know, I really wish you wouldn't do this to yourself. She walked up to me and fingered my short, dyed, dark black hair. "You look so much prettier without all this black." She said.

I ignored her, again feeling a sigh leave my body and retrieved my bags. She had no idea she was partially at fault for all this. She was marrying her third husband, and now sending me off to live with my father. "Come on; let's get you to the airport." This time it was her that sighed as she took the polka dotted bag from me.

It was only a fifteen minute drive to the airport, and Mom started to tear up when she kissed me goodbye. I hugged her tightly; the truth was that I'd miss her too, even if I didn't act like it. Security wasn't strict here, they let me through my bag of liquids, even though it was a full gallon bag and not a quarter bag. The flight wasn't late or anything, so I boarded twenty minutes after I had gotten through security. I was half asleep when the intercom came on, telling us we were about to land.

After I got off the plane I went straight to luggage, quickly spotting the ugliest bag in all of history. I grabbed my Quiksilver backpack and turned around, immediately seeing my father; only he wasn't looking at me. He was looking around, trying to find me. I walked to him, giving him the best smile I could conjure up. "Hey," I looked up, expecting to see recognition and welcoming eyes.

Instead he hardly gave me a second glance, "I'm sorry miss, but I'm trying to find my daughter, If you'll excuse me." He walked around me and continued looking.

BPOV

Chapter Two:

"Umm, yeah, Dad, that would be me." my smile faded into some kind of small sarcastic grin through pursed lips.

"Bella?" He looked stricken. Like someone had slapped him across the face and ran away before he was able to their face. He looked at me dead on now.

"Yes Dad, it's me." I said, giving him the best smile I could. The shocked look on his face melted in a big cuddly bear grin. It made me realize how much I missed him. I dropped my bags as he wrapped his arms around me, giving me a bear hug to match his grin.

"I'm so happy to see you!" He said as he squeezed the air out of my lungs.

"Me too, Dad," I said and felt myself really smile. I stepped back, grabbing my bags again, Charlie smelled like the woods.

"Come on, let's get you home," He took the pink bag from me. We got in his police cruiser and headed "home."

I noticed and old beat up Chevy sitting in the driveway as we pulled up. "It's sort of a homecoming present." Charlie said in a gruff voice. Emotional Charlie was gone, he had stepped back into his old stoic self. I laughed to myself, something just don't change.

Two people came running out of the house as we pulled up, well one wasn't running, more like wheeling. Billy Black, my dad's best friend, but I didn't recognize the boy who came out with him. "Hey Jake, Billy," Charlie said.

I grabbed my backpack, "No way, that is not Jake . . . " I said quietly to myself as they walked up.

"Whoa, Bella!" Jake exclaimed. "Wow, uh, you sure look different." He said it with a smile but I could tell her was just trying to not be rude.

"Yeah you too Jake," I said as I got out of the car. I gave him a quick hug and then took a monster step back. "Wow, you sure don't look 5 anymore. More like 19 now." I laughed with him and then it was his turn, I guess, to grab the ugly pink bag. Man, I really had to get rid of that thing. Jake also took my backpack from me. He ran up the steps of the house and then up the stairs, placing the bags on the floor in my room.

"Whoa slow down there Jake," Charlie said the same time Billy said, "Come one Bella, give me a hug." I smiled a bit and gave Billy a quick hug.

"We can't all move as fast as you boy." Charlie said, slapping Jake on the back. We talked and caught up for about the next two hours. I was so ready for bed by the time they left. All night long I had gotten side glances. I didn't know if it was because I looked different or if it was because they hadn't seen me in so long. Jake was 5 last time I had seen him. He didn't look the same at all.

I went to my room and washed off the makeup that was covering my face. I looked at myself in the mirror. Plain, plain old Bella was what I saw looking back at me, the one who had tried to make everyone else happy but her. I sighed and crawled under the purple sheets and comforter, letting sleep take over. Before I knew it I was dreaming of the way things used to be.

"_Come on Bellsy!" Jake yelled, "I made you a mud pie!" I giggled and chased Jakey across the beach. We threw mud pies at each other until we were so covered in it that we could have been boogeymen. _

"_Bella!" Mom called up the beach; her and Charlie were sitting in chairs next to each other, holding hands. She handed me my swim suit and I went to change. I came back and Jake was in his too, we swam until our fingers and toes looked like raisins right out of the box._

"Morning Bella," Charlie said as I came down the stairs and into the kitchen. I tried smiling and grabbed a bowl of cereal. "Morning," I said as I sat down at the small kitchen table next to him.

"School starts tomorrow." He said in an odd tone.

"I know."

"Just checking, you're uh, not going to, umm, be wearing all that stuff you had on yesterday are you?" He looked down at his own bowl of cereal.

"No Dad, why would I wear dirty clothes on my first day of school?" I knew he was talking about my clothes and make up being black, but I wasn't going to have this conversation with him, not now, not ever.

BPOV

Chapter Three:

I climbed into the beat up Chevy. I wasn't ready for this. I started the car and put it in gear, reversing it out of the driveway and into the street, heading toward my certain doom. School should be illegal, or at least optional. The socially impaired should be able to choose to go or not. The drive was silent, considering the radio didn't work; Jake was still working on that for me. I parked in a place that looked good. I gathered my way to heavy backpack and my keys, getting out of the car, but only to be slammed back into it. Someone had pulled into the space next to me, very quickly I might add, and hit me with their passenger door. "Um, ow," I said rudely and then wished I could take it back. The guy getting out had beautiful hair, a mixture of red, bronze, and brown. His deep blue apologetic eyes stared at me and then looked down at my scattered school supplies. He bent down quickly, helping me gather them up. "I'm so sorry, my fault, I didn't mean to hit you," He looked back through the open passenger door toward the driver of the car. "Rose, you have to be careful! You nearly drove right over," He looked at me.

"Bella," I said quietly, shoving things back into my backpack.

"Bella," He repeated, I could hear the slight smile in his voice. I looked up to see a perfect crooked grin across his lips.

"Yeah, whatever just hurry up will you?" She said it as a question, but the tone of her voice made it seem like a command. She got out of her car one leg at a time. He heels making her legs seem impossibly long.

"I'm Edward," He said and extended his hand to help me off the concrete. I gave him a sheepish smile, not trusting my voice. I looked at him through the hair that had fallen in my eyes, God, he was gorgeous. "And this, well this is my less than pleasant right now, girlfriend, Rosalie."

"Yeah, I prefer Rose." She sneered at me and I watched as her eyes traveled up and down my body. Taking in the blackness I guess. She rolled her perfect topaz eyes. "Come on Eddy." She said and started to strut away. This time it was him who rolled his eyes. It looked like waves, only they were moving further and further away from me instead of coming closer as waves would. He winked one perfect eye at me and then followed he like a lost puppy.

I put the remaining things in my backpack and then heaved it onto my shoulder. I watched them as they walked away, not sure why though. I heard a very loud bell go off and decided I should probably get going before the late bell rang.

Praying the strap didn't break, I heaved the backpack higher on my shoulder and stuck my arm through the other one. I started for the school, dreading for the front office, but intrigued by the people. I wonder if they were all like that. I smiled to myself as I walked into the school.

Great, I hated science, especially biology, which happened to be my fourth block. I shoved my schedule back into my backpack. At least the day was almost over. Lunch was first though, I had lunch four and my stomach had been begging me for food since the bell for first lunch went off. I walked into the cafeteria and looked for a place to sit. "Hey, isn't that the new girl?" I heard a prissy voice whisper behind me.

"Yeah, I think so," said a more timid voice, "Do you think we should invite her to sit with us?"

"Do you think I can't hear you?" I said turning around, feeling my brow furrow slightly. I reeled around on them, they looked startled. I sighed to myself; did I have to be so rude?

"Well then what are you waiting for?" Thee prissy voice said. "Our table is over there, sit or don't, I don't care." Great, I had offended her.

"Hi, sorry, let's start over," The timid voice said. "I'm Angela," She smiled and stuck her hand out for me to shake, but I didn't take it. I was too busy thinking about the germs that might be crawling over them. "That less than positive person is Jessica. She said and used the hand she extended to elbow Jessica in the side. I followed them to their table.

"Thanks for letting me sit with you guys." I said quietly to Angela. She smiled again; she had a sweet smile, with her glasses and dark hair she seemed like she would be a good friend. I'd probably go to her if I need one, but no I didn't friends, or even a friend. I was perfectly fine on my own. I let my short black hair fall in my face and heard the door behind me open. I turned around to see who it was, only to turn right back around abruptly. I saw Jessica gawking at them. I didn't blame her, they were gorgeous. I was sure they were the schools "it" couple. I couldn't stop myself from turning back around to look at them; Edward saw and winked at me again. I felt a faint heat trickle across my cheeks and the turned back around. No, I would not let this happen; I would not stare at him, no matter how gorgeous he was. I would not end up like my mother. All men were animals and deserved what they get.

"Did you see that?" Jessica said to Angela.

"No, what?" Angela asked.

"Edward, winked, at, of all people, her," I turned my head and gave Jessica a stare, but then realized I was being rude again and stopped.

"So," Angela said.

"Are you kidding me?" Jessica rolled her eyes at Angela and then turned to me. "Look, don't get you hopes up just because he winked at you. He's a player. He's had nearly every girl at this school." She rolled her eyes again. "He's not going to give you the time of day once your newness goes away."

I sighed, "Don't worry, I'm not interested. He doesn't give me the time of day now, and Im not going to give it to him either." I looked at her and then shook my head. I got up and left the cafeteria. I went to biology, even though there was still fifteen minutes before the bell rang.

Once I had found my seat, the one Mr. M has assigned me, I pulled out my book and began to read, only to realize I hadn't eaten, my stomach was going haywire. I ignored and read until the bell rang. My hair was in my face and I didn't look up until I heard the chair next to me scrape against the ground. I looked up only to have the air stolen from my chest. It was him. Great, I was definitely going to have to give him the time of day now.

BPOV

Chapter Four:

I let my hair fall down in between us, it wasn't long, but it covered enough of my face. I looked back down at the pages of my book, suddenly meaningless to me. Then I realized I was just giving other people satisfaction. Me cowering behind my hair was exactly what they expected the "goth" girl to do, especially since I was new. I sighed and pushed my hair back. I felt how dry it had gotten lately, I would definitely need to stock up on some conditioner. I fingered the tips of my hair and attempted to keep reading. "Okay, I hope you all are ready for the lab today! Go ahead and pick up the worksheets and slides in the middle of the table and get started." Mr. M announced to the class, "Oh, and remember: Team Work!" He added in a way to enthusiastic voice. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I let . . . Edward? Is that what his name was? Oh, who was I fooling? Of course his name was Edward, how on earth could I forget a name such as that? How could I forget eyes like that, or his smil- Stop! Don't let yourself start thinking like that! I bit my lip and watched as he grabbed the microscope first. I wrote my name on my worksheet and picked up the second slide, carefully sliding the first one over to him.

"No, I insist, ladies first," There was that perfectly crooked smile again. I fought down the flutters in my stomach and shook my head, pushing the scope back over to him. He shrugged and looked into it, then wrote something down on his paper. He scooted the scope back to me. I repeated his motions and then carefully replaced the first slide with the second one.

"Well this is fun," He said, breaking the silence. I wanted it back. I smiled tentatively and then wrote down the data and scooted the machine back over to him. "Are you going to talk?" He asked, but he might as well been talking to a wall, I wasn't planning on saying anything to him, I didn't know why, I just had this gut feeling it would be better not to answer him, even if I wanted to. "Are you going to make me make you talk?" What? I turned my head and just stared at him. There was that "player" thing Jessica mentioned. He raised his eyebrows and i turned my head away again. "Well you're a lot of fun." He said and leaned back on his stool, holding onto the table so he wouldn't fall off the back of the stool.

I slid the third slid over to him; he frowned and took it from my hand instead of from the table as I had wanted him to. I yanked my hand away before any kind of contact was made, that really made him give me funny looks, which really made me want to hide my face again. I sighed and thought of this morning. That girl he was with looked so much older than him. I'm guessing she was older. She looked older, but it might just be the way she walked into the school; as if she owned it.

He was obviously a sophomore, like me, but I wondered how he had gotten a senior, but then I looked over at him as he worked on his worksheet. His hair, his smile, his eyes, her obvious need of dominance . . .

My thought process was interrupted as he slid the microscope over to me, knocking my books off the table; them making a loud smack as they hit the ugly tile. His eyes went wide, "I'm sorry, it was an accident!" His voice got slightly higher, he looked like a little kid who had broken his mother's fine china.

I couldn't help but smile and laugh a little, "It's not a big deal."

His eyes got wider, "She speaks!" He said loudly.

I smiled and rolled my eyes. I scooted off my stool and started collecting my scattered items; he got off his with ease and began helping my pick up the strewn pencils and papers. "You have to stop knocking my things over." I said to him, smiling.

"Yeah, I do, that's the second time today isn't it." Crooked smile alert. We finished getting my stuff off the floor and then finished the worksheet in basic silence. When we were finished he snatched my paper and put it in the "in" box. Every teacher had one, they were so stupid.

He looked through the "out" box and brought something back to the table. When I looked at it he said, "Progress report, I'm guessing you don't have one since it's your first day." I got a pretty good look at his grade by the way he was holding it, almost as if he was showing it to me; 100%, I almost gagged. There was so way someone could look that perfect and have perfect grades too. I checked the name, sure enough, it said Edward Mason. I wanted to die, grades of mine were never that good, they were always awful.

The bell rang, thank God. I put my things into my already overfilled backpack and then heaved it onto my shoulder. We all filed out of the classroom.

Waiting there was Rose, she was perfect too. Her heels made her taller than him, so she had to bend down slightly to kiss his cheek. She was definitely a senior. I walked in the opposite direction, school was over, thankfully. I walked to the parking lot and then into my truck. I sighed and leaned against the back of the seat for a second and then slammed the door shut, making sure it was closed. I began to pull out when I saw waving hands coming in my direction, I stopped and rolled down my window, it was manual. I probably looked ridiculous as I spun the handle around in circles as the window went down.

"Hey, sorry this is yours; I didn't mean to take it." Edward handed me my homework planner. I gave him a small smile and took it from him gently.

"Thanks."

"No problem," He smiled crookedly once again. He winked again and then ran off to his girlfriend. It made me sick when girls dated guys younger than themselves. It was disgusting. Cougar alert.

I turned in my seat and watched as they pulled away in her red BMW, I swear she was giving my some kind of death glare as she pulled out.

I climbed into to bed, totally exhausted. First days were always the worst. I fell asleep pretty much a soon as my head hit the pillow.

When I woke up his name was on the tip of my tongue. I didn't know why, but it was there. It was like my tongue wanted me to say it. My heart ached to say it. I didn't understand why though. How could guy affect me so much? In one day? I swallowed his names and kept it from my mind as I got ready for school. I grabbed my Flyleaf t-shirt from my closet and yanked it over my head, quickly finding skinny jeans and my Converse High Tops; I put those on too. Heading into the bathroom I realized I hadn't taken off my makeup last night, I cringed as I looked in the mirror; seeing a very pale person with eye liner halfway down her cheeks. I sighed and started wiping it off. When it was all gone, I reapplied it all. Yanking the hair tie from the back of my head, I put it on my wrist and then sat down on my bed. I loved how this shirt was slightly too big, it made it comfy. I put my hoodie on, grabbed the darn too heavy backpack, and headed out the door. Charlie has been gone for a while, there was a note stuck to the door of my truck.

"I'll be home late to tonight, sorry, Dad."

I ripped it off the door and crumpled it up, throwing in the passenger seat; I plopped the backpack on top of it, and started the car.

I pulled into school only to be stopped by a crowd of people surrounding something. I parked my car further away than what I would have liked and walked over to see what was up. I heard a bunch of screaming and then a nasty wet punch against something hard. I hurried ot see who was getting the crap beat out of them. I pushed my way through the crowd and then stopped short when I recognized the hair color of the one who was getting beaten up. Another punch threw his head to the side, that perfect mouth was scrunched in pain. I had to bite my lips to keep from crying out. That perfect mouth was covered in blood.

BPOV

Chapter Five

"Hey! Break it up you two!" A teacher rounded the corner; he rammed his way through students and finally got in between Edward and the big guy. I wanted to kick the big guy in the nose; I wanted to twist his arm, to poke him in the eye, anything to cause him pain. If my backpack hadn't been so heavy I would have, but it weighted me to where I was standing. When the teacher had the bug guys arms around his back I couldn't stop myself from going to see if he was okay, I flung my backpack onto the gravel but I soon realized how stupid I was being and was able to stop myself. Luckily I wasn't quite out of the crowd of people yet and went to retrieve my backpack. I looked over to Edward though and saw him still on the ground, holding his jaw. I can't believe the teacher just left him there. He probably had to deal with the big guy though.

Once people started to dissipate I walked over to where he was sitting on the concrete. I bit my lip and handed him a tissue from the little tissue container in my backpack. There was a lot of blood.

He looked up to see who was handing it to him, "Hey." He said in a rough voice. "Thanks," he added when he took the tissue. I'm guessing he went for one of his smiles, but something went wrong and he winced in pain. I kneeled down next to him, his lips were swollen and red, blood was dripping from his nose, staining the gravel. "That bad?" He asked when he noticed me staring. I tore my eyes from his swollen, but still perfect lips and looked at his face. I shook my head no and he tried for another smile, "Still not talking huh?" He said this like a question, but we both know it's not. I handed him another tissue, the first one hardly having any white left. He looked up at me thankfully.

I stood up and offered him my hand. It was small in his as he took it and pulled himself off the concrete. I tried not to let him know that my hand in his tingled even the slightest bit. "Where's your backpack?" I asked quietly once he had his bearings.

He jutted his chin over to his Volvo. I walked over and retrieved it for him, locking the doors as I closed them. It was not a good idea to leave a car like this unlocked. I handed him his backpack, which was almost heavier than mine. He slung it over his shoulder with ease. I sighed, "You should probably go see a nurse or something." I said to him and glanced at the entrance doors. "The bell is probably going to ring soon anyways." Giving him a small smile I turned around to walk into the school. He followed me and kept pace.

We walked into the school in silence but he soon jerked his chin towards the handicapped bathroom. "Help me?" He asked as he held the door handle. I looked at him in disbelief.

"We can't go in there at the same time. "

"Relax, it's not like we're actually peeing or anything, I just want your help with this" He gestured towards his bloodied nose, mouth and chin.

Nice choice of words, I thought to myself and then shook my head no.

"Come on, please?" He didn't wait for answer; he wrapped his hand around my wrist and pulled me inside with him.

"Are you kidding me? Someone could have seen us!" I winced at how mean I sounded.

"Like I said: relax," He rolled his shoulders and then jumped onto the counter, "Help." He pointed to his chin. I didn't want to, but the again I did. I set my backpack on the floor next to the door. I grabbed some paper towels and wet them down.

"Here," I said handing them to him.

He rolled his eyes and twisted his body so he was facing the mirror, I watched him rub the paper towels roughly over the scrape on his chin. It was still bleeding. "You're being too rough." I said to the floor. He sighed and kept going.

I sighed and wet some more paper towels. I carefully turned his shoulders so he was facing me and began to gently dab at his chin. It was silent, an awkward kind of silence. I had to break it; I was beginning to feel squirmy. "Why did that guy hit you?" I asked him quietly.

"Hmm?" He asked, I looked at him, focusing away from his chin, he was staring at me.

"Why did that guy hit you?" I repeated.

"Oh," He mumbled something angrily under his breath. He sighed, "Rose was cheating on me with him." He said quietly, looking away from me and to the ceiling. "I guess he didn't know Rose was cheating on him with me, so when I kissed her, he kind of went ballistic. He started throwing punches faster than I could get one in." He grimaced. "He started calling me names and telling me to leave his girlfriend alone," He rolled his eyes, "It doesn't matter, I was over her anyways. She was always . . . Cold." I didn't know if he was talking about her being mean and rude, or her temperature, but it seemed unlikely that a person's temperature could be cold.

"I'm sorry," I said quickly and focused on his chin again. It was done bleeding, but I didn't want to focus my attention on his bloody lips, so I kept dapping at his chin.

"Is it done bleeding yet?" He asked and I sighed, dropping the paper towel into the trash can. I grabbed a new and after wetting it down like I had the others moved to his perfect lips. I was afraid if I didn't do this right I would somehow mess them up. His lips were split open in three different places. That guy had really gotten him. He opened his mouth slightly, making it easier for me. His breath smelled sweet.

I worked on one split at a time, getting a new paper towel for each one. I was on the last one when the bell rang, releasing people to second block. It scared us both, making me jump, and making him bite down, nicking the knuckle on my finger with his teeth.

I yanked my hand away and dropped the paper towel, "Ouch."

His eyes widened as he saw blood start to form on my finger. "I- Oh, ouch," He looked startled. "I didn't mean to, the bell scared me."

"I know," I said quietly, I picked up the paper towel I had dropped and trashed it.

"Here." He grabbed my hand and ran my finger under the water. I watched him as he doctored my finger. I dried my hand when he was finished.

"Why did you ask for help when you didn't need it?" I asked the sink.

"What? Oh," He shrugged, "I didn't want to be stuck in here by myself."

"Then you should have gone to the nurse." I grabbed my backpack and left the bathroom, walking at a fast pace going straight into second block, ignoring the person calling my name in the background. I didn't understand what had just happened, and I didn't want to.

Throwing my backpack onto the floor i slumped into my seat, and pulled out my book. I wanted to read, I really did. But I couldn't. The only thing I could think about was the way Edward's eyes were looking into mine when I was cleaning his lip.

4th block, great, I put my head on the desk and prayed he wouldn't show. It didn't work. I heard the chair scrape the tile next to me and smelled his body spray, I wanted to die. "Would you let me talk to you?" his voice was gentle but I heard the aggravation behind it. I ignored him and grabbed my book from backpack. I let my hair fall, blocking him from me. His smell got stronger and I felt him get closer as well. "Please?"

"Why?"

"Because, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything, I don't even understand why you're mad. But i want to apologize. "Why was he trying so hard to please me? I was a rude and mean a "goth" girl, according the people at my old school. I turned my head to look at him, but he was closer than I thought, his face was only inches from mine.

I swallowed hard, and someone behind us whistled. "Get a room." They yelled from the back of the room.

"Dude, shut up!" Edward yelled to the voice. I looked back down to my book. The rest of the block went by in silence. I jumped when the bell rang and grabbed my bag, heading straight for my locker. He was waiting for me by my truck.

"Move," That was so mean, don't do it again. Stop yelling at yourself.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because, I need you to take me home."

"What? Why? You have a car, so walk over there, get in it, and leave me alone," Stop being so mean to him!

"You locked me out of it."

"Huh?"

"You locked the door when you grabbed my backpack." I sighed.

"Where's your keys?" I was starting to sound desperate.

"In the car, on the key ring, that was sitting on the passenger seat." His voice was gentler. "Please drive me home."

"I don't know where you live." I crossed my arms over my chest and looked away from him.

"Well I'll drive to my house, and then you can drive to your house. Or I can give you directions. But please, it's too far for me to walk, and it's going to rain soon."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine," I walked around to the passenger side. I didn't feel like driving anyways. Once he got in I tossed him the keys, and settled in for the drive.

As soon as we pulled out it started to pour. The wind shield wipers didn't want to work right, great.

He drove in silence for a long time and I wondered how I was going to get myself back home since I couldn't see the street signs, due to the rain. Finally he stopped the car. "Thanks." he said, opened his door and got out. I did the same and walked around to the driver side of the car. I got in and realized he left his backpack. I picked it up and went to knock on the door, but he was sitting on the porch.

"No house keys?" i asked quietly. He shook his head no. "Come on." i said and gestured towards the truck. "I won't be able to find my way home out of these woods and the rain anyways. You can come to my house for a while." I regretted saying this as soon as it left my lips. That was a stupid move. Was I not angry at him not half an hour ago? I wished I could take it back. He didn't say anything, just grabbed his backpack from me and got back into the driver's seat. More silence, we were drenched, and I was freezing.

I reached for the heat the same time he did. He got to it first, and I hit the button for the radio instead. Paramore went blasting through the stereo. I turned it down and saw him chuckling. I pursed my lips and looked out the window.

"How do I get to your house from the school?" He asked as we past it.

"Turn left up there, and another left on Mulberry St. a right on Mahogany, and then it's the first house on the left." We lapsed into silence again.

He followed my instructions easily but made a fatal mistake by hitting my mail box. "Are insane?" i asked and jumped out the truck. "My dad is going to kill me!"

"I'm so sorry!" He got out and examined the damage. "We can fix it before he gets home if you want."

"Just want i want to spend my time doing." I said. "Fine, I guess we have to"

"Hang on, you go inside and warm up. I'll go buy a piece of wood." He jumped back into my truck and pulled away.

I went inside and wanted to change, but I kept these clothes on because I figured I'd be back outside in the rain soon. He came back a few minutes later, I brought out a hammer and nails. He took them from me and began working. "You can go inside, I'll do this, it was my fault." He had to yell over the rain.

"I'm not leaving you out here in the rain." he went back to silently working. The mail box was fixed in no time. "Thanks." I said as he finished.

"No problem." he said his lips were turning blue. He was cold. Those lips shouldn't be blue. They're too perfect to be blue. I gestured for him to follow me inside. He did and got to work at making hot chocolate for me and coffee for him. "Do you want something dry to wear?" I asked.

"No. Well, no. But thanks." I raised my eyebrows and he sighed. "Sure."

"Hang on." I went upstairs and brought him down a pair of my dad's jeans and a t shirt.

"Thanks."

"mhmm."

I left him to go change. "You can change in the bathroom." I pointed to the downstairs bathroom. I changed into a plain black t shirt and pair of sweat pants.

When I came down he was swimming in my dad's clothes. "Yeah, sorry I knew they'd be big."

He shrugged, "its ok, at least they're not wet."

I smiled and handed him his coffee "milk, sugar or cream?"

"Sugar and milk please," He said simply. I handed him the milk and sugar and watched him perfect his coffee.

"When will you parents be home?" I asked him.

"Around six," I looked at the clock in the kitchen. It was 5:30; it took longer to fix the mail box than I thought. Charlie would be home around seven.

"Do you think we should leave soon?"

"Yeah," He said taking a sip of his coffee.

"Okay," I nodded and took a sip of my hot chocolate. I stood there for a minute and then grabbed my keys off the table. "Can you just give me directions this time so I'll know how to get home?"

"Yeah," He was a lot quieter, more calm, no so much "player" like, when he wasn't at school. It was nice.

I grabbed an umbrella for me and a raincoat for him. We ran out into the rain and into the truck. I looked into the review mirror and realized how messed up my eyeliner and mascara was from the rain. It looked awful.

"Why didn't you say something?" I grinned and pointed to my face.

He shrugged. "It was funny looking." I rolled my eyes and started wiping it away. I hated the idea of not having any on, especially with someone near me. But it really looked that bad.

My fingers were black from the makeup, I wiped the on my sweat pants and kept wiping at my eyes, trying to get rid of it all. Soon there was none left. I felt naked. When I looked over at him he was staring at me, probably trying to figure out why I was so persistent on getting it off. "What?" I asked.

He shook his head. "You look even prettier without all of that gunk on your face." He looked out his window.

Even prettier? He thought I was pretty? That did a lot for my nerves. I rolled my eyes at him and turned my head so he wouldn't see the blush that was creeping up my neck.

BPOV

Chapter Six:

"So?"

"So . . ."

"How's the mailbox holding up?"

"Good I guess, it hasn't fallen over yet." I ran a hand through my hair and talked to my biology book.

"Well, this is a lively conversation." Edwards mumbled under his breath. "I still have your dad's clothes; do you want me to bring them over after school?"

I hated to shoot him down. But I had to. I took a deep breath and squeezed the trigger. "Why don't you just bring them to school tomorrow?" Bang.

He turned his head abruptly, and the scent of his body spray hit me. I turned to see what he was looking at. It was Big Guy coming into the class room.

If looks could kill, Edward would be lying dead right about now, from my gun, and Big Guy's daggers. I softened my tone, "Who is he?"

"What you don't recognize the guy who beat me up in the parking lot?" His voice turned cold.

"No, I mean, yes I recognize him from that, just who is he?"

"His name is Emmett Cullen, he's a senior and a creep, he keeps to himself and his two little followers, no wait, make that three little followers," He said meaning Rosalie as the last.

"Oh, well tell me, who am I supposed to hate? I'm new; you have to give me points on who I'm not supposed to like."

He almost smiled. "Well, you shouldn't like Emmett Cullen of course, Rosalie Hale, even more, and actually now that I think about it, they're all related in a way. . . Which is so gross, but Jasper Hale, Roses twin brother, and Alice Cullen, she's a junior, but they still let her follow along, both because she's Emmett's little sister, and Jasper's girlfriend."

"Wow, that's a bit complicated..." His body was tensed up, he was ridged and looked as if you poked him he would fall over and shatter. I scooted a bit further away from him, scared of doing just that.

I hoped he wouldn't notice but he did, he gave me a funny, unreadable look and then he slowly softened.

"Sorry, they just piss me off; sometimes I wish I could just. . ." He held his hands in fists so tight they veins popped out as the rest turned white. "They think they run this school." He said through clenched teeth and I wondered what, besides beating him up, they had done to make him so angry. I put my hand gently over one of his rock hard fists and gave it a little squeeze.

"Calm down, its ok, they can't do anything right now, not in the middle of class with a teacher right there." I said to him and not text book. The rock under my hand softened into a hand again, he turned it over so our palms were touching.

I slowly, reluctantly, took me hand away. Finally class started and Emmett left. He looked smug, I wanted to knock that look right off this faces, but I couldn't do that, so I let him walk away, and watched Edward tense again out of the corner of my eye.

"Okay everyone, I trust you've finished your bell work." Mr. M could be so boring. I tuned him out and focused on Edward, he was still tensed, but his eyes looked desperate . . . and sad. I felt pain begin in the middle of my chest. I knew if I could get that look off his face, the pain would go away, but I didn't know how to do that, so I let it start to eat my heart. It ate until it was full and I was flushed from pain.

Edward must have noticed, his hand was on my shoulder and I ignored the warmth slowly spreading out from his hand. "Hey are you okay?" he sounded concerned.

I tried to compose my face and looked at him, the pain subsided a bit, but not fully because I could still he how desperate he was to do something in the souls of his eyes. Clearing my throat, " Yeah, I'm fine thanks." The bell rang.

"Hey umm, Why don't you go ahead and bring my dad's clothes over after school," I told my backpack.

"But I thought, okay, sure." I could hear the smile in his voice.

I hurried home and fixed my makeup, though I wasn't sure why. Not true, I knew exactly why, Edward would be here soon with Charlie's clothes. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

Calm Down Bella! I told myself and opened my eyes. I looked at my reflection, black liner, black hair, black clothes, and in all that darkness was the natural pinky color of my lips. I hated lip stick, so even though I loaded as much black on as I could, I never once applied the black lip stick, it would've made my already extremely pale complexion look even worse. I heard a knock on the door.

Oh boy. I went down the stairs and opened it slowly.

"Hey," He smiled.

"Hi." I said to his shoes. He looked around. "Come on in," I smiled at his face. He smiled back, that perfect crooked smile that I now lived for.

I felt blush creeping up my neck and willed it to stop. I stepped back and let him in, taking Charlie's clothes from him.

"I'll, umm, go put these in the washer," I said nervously.

"My mom already washed them."

"Oh, um ok, I'll go put them in his room then." I gave him a small smile and flew up the steps, except I tripped and dropped the clothes; luckily I caught myself, and didn't go flying, but I had to refold the clothes. I looked back at Edward, he hadn't noticed, good. Throwing them into their separate drawers I hurried back down the stairs.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You tripped going up the stairs." He raised his eyebrows.

There was the blush, it had just been waiting. "Yeah, I'm fine."

There was a long awkward silence; he was the one to break it, "So."

"So, you want something to drink?"

"Sure."

"Okay," I jerked my chin towards the kitchen and he followed me. I opened the fridge and bent over it, trying to see what had, "lemonade, water, Coke, or Pepsi?" I asked.

"Ah, the infamous Coke or Pepsi question." I heard him chuckled and stood up, turning around, I realized he was much closer than I thought he was. His face was just inches from mine. The humorous look in his eyes quickly changed. We were both breathing sort of hard. He looked from my lips to my eyes; and back again.

"You can tell me stop," He whispered, his lips slowly getting closer to mine. I nodded and swallowed hard. "Any time now, just say so."

I could feel his breath on my lips. Slowly and carefully our lips met. At first it was slow, gradually it got faster, heated. I pulled away from him for a breath, but his head followed mine and we backed into the fridge.

The front door creaked open. "Hey Bells, they let me come home early." I gasped and pulled away, hit my head on the fridge.

Chapter Seven:

I pushed Edward away from me and wiped at my mouth, the entirety of what just happened crashing down on me. I opened the fridge and tried to get my hands to stop shaking.

"Hey Dad, I'm in here." I said and hoped Edward would play along.

"Hey Bells." he paused and glanced somewhere behind me, I guessed it was Edward. "Hello Edward"

I heard Edward clear his throat, "Hi Chief Swan." He said in a low voice.

"I didn't know you were having company over Bella, you should have told me. "

Yeah, I didn't know either . . . "I know Dad I'm sorry."

I rubbed the bump that was forming on the back of my head, "Want something to drink Dad?"

"Just hand me a Vitamin R," He gruffed. I tossed him one and he left the room; going into the living room, with in hearing range. I tossed Edward a can of Coke, and got some water for me.

"Sorry," I whispered and took a sip.

"It's ok." he whispered back.

I was rubbing the continually growing bump on my head when his soda exploded.

"Nice." I said rushing up to the sink for a rag. "Don't you know never to open a tossed can of coke? It explodes." I waved my hand over the now sticky table, "Exhibit A"

I smiled and he laughed. He came up behind me and took the rag from me, beginning to clean up his mess. Once he was done I rinsed it off and hung it over the faucet.

We sat back down and listened to Charlie breathing, I knew he was listening to us. Getting Edward another soda, I carefully handed it to him this time. Our fingers brushed and the only thing I wanted to do was take his hand in mine and hold it, but I let him take his soda and sat back down again.

"Does your head hurt?" he whispered, noticing that I had been rubbing it.

"Yeah a little bit." I told my water. The next thing I knew his hand was on the back of my head, feeling the bump. I automatically wanted to lean my head back into his hand, but I didn't.

I covered his hand with mine and pulled it from my hair, setting it on the table. I felt bad, I was shooting him down again, after I had encouraged him, I just shot him another bullet. I was beginning to think he would give up soon if I didn't stop acting like a fool around him.

"I should be going." he said abruptly standing from his chair across the table.

"Yeah, I guess you should."

"Okay, well, um . . . bye." He said and then he was leaving.

"Goodnight Edward."

"'Night Chief Swan," and then the door closed and he was gone.

I went up the stairs and locked myself in my room. I was going insane, I had to be. You can't be this infatuated with someone in only 4 days! It hasn't even been a week and you're kissing him?

Putting my pj's on I went to bed early. I ignored Charlie when he asked me if I was coming down for dinner. I wanted to fall asleep and forget about everything, even if it was only for a little while.

"Kiss me, out on the bearded barley, nightly beside the gree-" I slammed my hand down on the alarm clock. That was NOT the song I needed to wake up to.

I left the lovely warm and safe sheets, and walked into the dreadfully cold tiled bathroom. Again, I had forgotten to take off my make up the night before. I looked like some deranged raccoon.

I got in the shower and let the water run over me until it was cold. Getting out I used my face wash and got the rest of my makeup off. My hair was wet. It would go to school wet, because I honestly didn't care anymore.

I had to stop myself from whatever was going on. I shouldn't have kissed him; I should have never encouraged him. Heading out of the bathroom, I grabbed a pair jeans and t-shirt from my closet. I threw on socks and my high top converse, and grabbed my hoodie and backpack I went out the door.

When I got to the school I went straight to class, avoiding everyone I could. When the lunch bell rang I took refuge in the library, I sat there and contemplated what to do next block. I jumped when the bell rang and ditched.

There was no way I was sitting through a whole hour and a half with him. Not yet. I went home and slept for a few hours. I refused Charlie for dinner when he came to get me.

"Bella, you need come down here and eat"

"Dad I'm really tired, I'll eat a big breakfast in the morning, okay?"

"Fine, just make sure you do." Charlie grumbled as he left my door.

That was easier than I thought it would be. I relaxed a little and then let sleep over take me.

"WHOA! I never meant to brag! But I've got him where I want him now" I smiled as I woke up. Paramore is the best thing to wake up to. Turning the volume down on my alarm clock I let the song finish. As soon as it was over I got up and began my morning rituals. Again, the only thing I could think about was avoiding him; by the time I got to school I was a nervous wreck. I pulled in, got out of my car and made a bee line for my first block.

"You can't avoid me forever you know."

My heart sped at the sound of his voice. I kept walking. I was almost to the front doors when he grabbed my elbow and tried to get me to face him.

"Bella," his voice was soft. I took a deep breath and turned towards him. "Please tell how to fix this."

I opened my mouth and then closed it. I wanted to step into his arms, to erase that look on his face and hold him until it never comes back. But of course I couldn't do that.

"You didn't do anything wrong," I told his shoes. "It was me, I'm sorry, I did something wrong."

"Wha- not to me, you didn't do anything wrong to me. Tell me and I'll fix it," he stepped closer, and then closer. I took a step back and then ran for the sanctuary of my first block.

BPOV

Chapter Eight:

I threw myself down in my seat and put my head on my desk fighting back tears, not only was that rude, and uncalled for, it was so wrong! No one should ever have to be looked at like that. I need to apologize, I need to do something! I can't just sit here. My head was chaos all threw first block, I could have been in the wrong class, and I never would have known.

Second and third block went by the same way. By lunch I had made up my mind that I would apologize, beg for mercy if i had to. I calmed myself in the library during lunch and when the bell rang I knew exactly what to do.

I marched into fourth block and waited for him.

He never came.

By the time half of the block was over I gave up hope and fought back tears. I went home in a haze.

As soon as I made it to my room I slumped against the wall and gave up, letting the tears stream down my face. I would call him, that's what I would do. I got up and reached for my phone, but once it was in my hand, I realized I didn't have his number.

I felt my eyes begin to prick with tears again when I remembered I knew my way to his house. Running for the truck, I left a note on the fridge for Charlie telling I'd be home late, and then I slammed the keys in the ignition and drove.

Taking the specific turns I knew I needed to take and flew down the roads of Forks. Half way there, I figured that maybe I was being silly, or maybe I was overreacting, but at this point, I didn't care. Pulling up to his house I got out and clambered up the porch steps and slammed my fist into the door.

I kept hitting the door until it opened and then I stumbled forward.

"Bella? I, wha- what are you doing here?"

I couldn't look at his face. I stepped forward tripping over my own feet and held on to him. At first he didn't respond and I was scared he was rejected me. But then he softened and wrapped his arms around me.

Crying, I melted into him. "I'm so sorry. I know I was mean, and rude, and out of line, and . . . and mean! For lack of a better word, just please forgive me, I can't stand the idea of you going around hating me for how I've been acting!" My words came out jumbled and slurred together, I knew I was hardly understandable, I sobbed into his shirt.

"Bella, Bella shhh," He rubbed his hand over my back. "I forgive you its ok." I cried until I had no tears left and he just stood there and held me. I didn't deserve this. But I wanted it so, so much.

"Are you ok now?"

I looked up at him and nodded my head, even though I was nowhere near ok. He backed up, still holding me and closed the door. Then we were sitting on a couch.

"No you're not."

I flushed a bit and looked down, backing out of his arms I turned my head the other way. The bitter fingers of the cold wrapped themselves around me.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly "I was so mean to you."

"No you weren't. You were just confused." I could hear the perfect crooked smile in his voice. I turned and looked at him.

"How can you know everything?"

"Because I'm just that awesome," He leaned back and put his hands behind his head, grinning from ear to ear. I smiled. "See I knew that'd make you smile." He paused. "You should do that more often you know."

I gave him a questioning look. There was no way I was going to have breakdowns in front of him more often.

"No, not cry, smile," He chuckled as he read my mind.

I blushed and fought the smile creeping over my lips. "You're not mad at me?"

"How could I be mad at you Bella?"

"Because of how rude and unfair I was."

"No I'm not mad, I was confused at first, but I'm not mad, I never was."

I scooted over until we were impossibly close and leaned against him. He took his arms from behind his head and put it around me.

"So can we stop playing this game now?" He asked and looked at me.

"What game?" I asked pretending to be oblivious.

"The game where I chase after you and you keep running, can't you just, stop running?" His voice was softer now.

"Oh, That 'game.'" I said and looked at his hand on my shoulder.

"Please?" His voice was right next to my ear.

"Why weren't you in fourth block?" I asked abruptly, turning to look at him.

"Because," It was simple, short, and unexplainable answer.

"Because why?"

I looked at him a bit closer and noticed hid lip was a bit puffy. How could i have missed that? I let my finger run over his slightly swollen lip, "What happened?" I asked quietly and curiously.

"Emmett."

"What? Again? I thought you were over Rosalie." I was ready to bolt for my truck.

He grabbed my hand so I couldn't go anywhere. "I am, I am, but she told him lies, and he believed them. I was in the bathroom washing the blood away, and then I didn't want to go, so I hid in the bathroom."

"Well you didn't do a very good job." I said noticing a small fleck of dried blood around the small cut that I could now see perfectly.

"Well you should have been there to help me." He smiled and I stopped breathing.

"I, you . . ." I sighed knowing that he couldn't have come and gotten me.

"Well you can help me now," He moved closer and I couldn't help myself from falling into him.

BPOV

Chapter Nine:

His lips pressed onto mine and we kissed for the second time, Charlie couldn't walk in on us this time, but his parents could. And there's no way they'll miss seeing us. Their living room holds the front door.

I reluctantly pulled away and he looked confused. "Your parents could walk in any minute and see us."

"She won't care." he said quietly and kissed me again.

I pulled away, "But I do."

He sighed. "Why?" he asked softly, not in a mean way, just curious I guess.

"Because it's disrespectful," I told the tiny gap between his leg and mine.

He chuckled, then sighed again. We sat in silence for a few minutes before he asked, "So, no more games?" His voice was hardly above a whisper.

"No more games." I said even softer.

"Good," I could hear the smile in his voice and pursed my lips keep from smiling too.

A car pulled up the drive way.

"There's my Mom."

"I should probably go." I said standing up.

"What? Why?"

"Because I only left a note for Charlie saying I'd me home late, if I'm gone too long I'll get questioned."

He nodded like he understood and then stood up next to me as his mom came through the door.

He had her eyes.

"Hey Edward." she said not noticing me, then she looked up and looked taken aback, probably because of my attire.

"Hi Mom, this is Bella."

"Oh, well, umm, hi Bella, it's nice to meet you."

"Hi Mrs. Mason, it's nice to meet you too." I said and smiled.

"I wish you would have told me you had company over Edward, I would have brought dinner home with me." she said as she took her coat off and shuffled through a massive sized purse.

"Oh, I'm not staying." I said quickly.

She looked up and smiled. "Well why not?" she asked politely, trying not too sound relieved.

"My Dad is waiting for me at home." I wished I had something to grab, like a purse or my backpack, but I don't carry a purse, and I left my backpack at home.

I looked over at Edward then to Mrs. Mason, then back to Edward, begging for help.

"Umm, I'll walk you out to your car; I'll be back in a minute mom."

Once we were out, I remembered the truck.

"How did your mom not notice the truck?"

"She did, she was acting like she hadn't. She does things like that a lot."

"Oh."

He made a "mhm" noise.

"Umm thanks for walking me out here." I said awkwardly. We walked around to the driver's side of the truck, blocking his moms view if she had been watching us.

He opened my door for me and I got in, him closing it behind me. I rolled down the window, he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. I felt heat creeping up my neck.

"Bye." he whispered and I felt his breath against my cheek.

I smiled and looked at him.

"Bye," I whispered back before putting the car in gear and driving away.

The next day, all I could think about was getting to lunch, and then getting to fourth block. I was going insane, but I didn't care. My mind was filled with thoughts of him. Running imaginary conversations in my head, picturing what he was wearing today, and pictures of his face.

I was an excited mess by the time it was lunch, but then I realized I had never sat with him at lunch before, I had always avoided him, not paid attention to him, or watched him eat with Rosalie.

Walking into the cafeteria I looked around for him, but I couldn't find him. I waited by the door. What if he didn't want to sit with me? I began to chew on my lips; I was acting like some nervous seventh grader, eating lunch with a boy for the first time.

I sighed; of course he would want to, he kissed you, he likes you, he wants you to stop playing games. He kissed you.

I smiled remembering his lips against mine.

I felt arms come around me from behind in a hug, and then his voice was at my ear saying hello. I smiled and sighed a bit in relief.

"Hi." I said looking back at him.

"Where do you want to sit?"

"Where ever your sitting." I blushed and smiled at what I had just said. I'm such dweeb.

He smiled back at me and laced his fingers through mine, leading me to a table in the corner. I glanced at Jessica and Angela's table. Jessica's jaw was on the cafeteria tile, while Angela's eyes matched that of an owl.

"Those two are something else." Edward said noticing me looking at them. After Jessica had collected herself, her eyes tried to bore holes through me and then she turned around, snipping a rude comment at Angela when she didn't do the same.

I shook my head at Edward's comment and just sat there smiling like an idiot.

"What?" He asked, his crooked smile slipping into place.

"Nothing," I said and flushed.

"I'm going to go get lunch, you want anything?"

"No thank you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, but thanks," I smiled at him as he stood up and went for the lunch line. I turned around and faced the table.

A sharp boney hand grabbed my shoulder.

"You better watch it, Goth." Her breath was hot against my ear. "He's on rebound right now, and we wouldn't you to get hurt now would we?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"He's not over me, and we both know that." Her hand squeezed my shoulder and I knew I would have bruises later on. She walked away in the twitchy, hip swinging kind of way and then draped herself over Emmett's lap.

I rubbed my shoulder until Edward came back, could he really be on rebound? No, he was too raw, too real. He couldn't be on rebound. He wouldn't do that to me . . . Would he? Again, I was a mess for the second time that day, by the time he came back.

"Hey," I stopped rubbing my shoulder and folded my hands together.

"Hey," I said and tried for a smile.

"Something wrong?"

"No."

"I got you an apple," He said and then smiled. "I know you said you didn't want anything, but I couldn't sit here and eat and watch you eat nothing."

"Thanks," I said taking the apple from him. It was wet, slippery. I hadn't realized it has slipped from my fingers until I saw Edward; he had stuck both his hands out, cupping them, catching the apple just in time. It looked almost as if he were cradling it in his hands.

He handed it back to be, "thanks," I said and looked down.

"No problem," He said and smiled. "What? No comment on my cat like reflexes?" He joked.

"Oh, absolutely, ninja skills," I laughed and temporarily forgot about Rosalie and her comments.


End file.
